Ukraine’s Strikes on Russian Data Centers Disrupt Key Services

Russia has invested heavily in digital services, from e-commerce to artificial intelligence (AI).

Ukrainian drone strikes have damaged Russian data centers, disrupting cloud services and other digital infrastructure used by businesses and consumers. [Photo: Defence of Ukraine X]

But Ukrainian drone attacks have damaged several data centers supporting the country’s technology infrastructure during the more than four-year full-scale war, with repairs potentially taking months or longer, Kelvin Chan reported for The Associated Press (AP).

Ukraine this month struck three major data centers belonging to technology company Yandex, one operated by Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, and another associated with social media platform VKontakte, the country’s equivalent of Facebook, AP reported.

Although Yandex, Sberbank and VKontakte have disclosed limited information about the extent of the damage, people and businesses across Russia have reported widespread interruptions to cloud services.

Banking, e-commerce, geolocation and ride-hailing services have been affected, along with Yandex’s Alisa virtual assistant and multimodal AI chatbots.

The effects have reportedly extended to Russia’s judicial system, forcing some arbitration courts to cancel or postpone hearings and disrupting access to databases.

Experts say restoring the damaged infrastructure could take months or even years. Some warn that the attacks could set back Moscow’s ambitions to become a major AI power.

“This effectively sets Russia far behind in the AI race,” said Mikhail Klimarev, head of the Internet Protection Society activist group.

Data centers have become another target in aerial campaigns by both sides against infrastructure considered important to the opposing side’s economy and military capabilities.